John McCusker/The Times-PicayuneThe Roosevelt Bar sits next door to the Roosevelt Hotel on University Place in New Orleans.In an April 28 letter sent to George Friedman, owner and operator of the Roosevelt Hotel Bar, attorney Jason Mueller indicated that the similar name and proximity to the hotel are a violation of Hilton Hotels' intellectual property. Hilton Hotels owns the hotel.

"Because of your location, passerby who see 'Roosevelt Hotel Bar' on University Place are concluding that it is a part of Hilton's business," Mueller wrote in the letter. "In fact, we understand that several patrons of the Roosevelt Hotel have attempted to charge their 'Roosevelt Hotel Bar' purchases to their hotel rooms. This is direct evidence of consumer confusion caused by your establishment."

The letter threatened legal action if Friedman didn't comply by May 5. Weeks later, he says he has not received any further notices so far.

Mueller, who is with the legal firm Adams and Reese, refused to comment on the status of the proceedings.

Friedman started the bar in 1998, during the long interval when the Roosevelt was called the Fairmont Hotel. "We opened it so that people could go right next door from the Fairmont," he said. The bar's name was chosen "for a little nostalgia," Friedman said.

As the Roosevelt, the hotel was a famous haven for fame and fortune and was legendary governor Huey P. Long's base of operations in New Orleans. Fairmont Hotels purchased the building in 1965 and changed the name.

When Hilton Hotels purchased the Fairmont in 2007, after the building was closed because of damage from Hurricane Katrina, it spent more than $170 million remodeling the building to make it a part of the Hilton's Waldorf-Astoria luxury line. The hotel reopened in 2009, once again as the Roosevelt.

Friedman claims that because he established his business while the hotel was the Fairmont, his establishment is not using Hilton's intellectual property. He has been in discussion with attorneys about defending his establishment's name should Hilton decide to sue.

The case presents some interesting questions and has no easy answers, said Tulane Law School professor Glynn Lunney, an expert in intellectual property. Lunney says that trademark rights are generally given on a first-come, first-served basis, but that those rights can be lost if the name is changed with "no intent to resume."

"If the period was greater than three years, we can assume no intent" to resume the name, he said. The hotel was called the Fairmont for 44 years.

However, Lunney acknowledges that the case isn't cut and dried. He says the possible confusion caused by the bar's proximity is a factor, as is the history behind the name. "What do you do when there's lingering association of a name with the public even when it's not being used officially?" he asks. "Sometimes the courts will rule in favor of (the previous holder)."

For his part, Friedman just hopes the debacle dies down.

"I have no issue with anyone that works (at the Roosevelt)," Friedman said. "This is a big corporate thing."

Friedman says he has an amicable relationship with the hotel's staff and hopes that relationship will continue.

Matthew Albright can be reached at malbright@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3399.